Tuesday, October 09, 2007

"... and talk about some sh*t that's been on my mindtalk about the state of this great nation of ourspeople look to your left, yeah look to your right"

- Ben Folds, "All U Can Eat"

I had a thought in the Wal-Mart parking lot. I'm always thinking about things, so this really isn't a big surprise, except that big revelations don't come to me every day, by any means. It started forming in my subconsiousness when I read a post on Bob Parks' blog (Black and Right) where he brough up Vincente Fox's quote when talking to the AP on his recent book tour (promoting El Presidente's new book). It bubbled up to the surface and popped into my consciousness when I parked the car, releasing itself as a fully matured thought.

What occurred to me that the whole bigotry thing has turned inside out on itself. It used to be about one thing. Now it is about its opposite.

I got to thinking ... why is it wrong to be prejudiced against certain groups of people? (which is basically what bigotry is). And of course there is a perfectly good answer to that question.

We all know there's an answer, and we even have a pretty good idea what it is. But I like to boil problems down to their simplest roots, getting rid of the clutter and then go exploring back upwards from there. It keeps you focused on the problem.

The answer (and this is my big revelation) that it robs the individual of his soveriegnty -- if, for the sake of argument, purple polka-dotted people (PPP) have a reputation for behavior "A", and a single PPP rejects behavior "A", he should not be punished for behavior "A". Bigotry takes this self-determining choice away from him. It is about individual freedom.

However, today's professional "sanctioned" anti-bigotry advocates are all about collectivism, not individualism. With straight faces they do everything they can to make sure that orange stripped people (OSP) are collectively punished for bigotry against PPP. They are about winning advantages for the group, not about freedom and justice for the individual.

"Racism" has come to mean "non-collectivist thought" (from the point of view of the "victimized" group.) No wonder today's socialists embrace it as a tool to further the ends of collectivism.

As a matter of fact, it is so bad that if a PPP rejects behavior "A" and especially if he embraces behavior "B", which is more associated with OSP, that soveriegn individual PPP is ostricized an thrown into the OSP group as a part of the group to be punished.